Description
Kathy DeAngelo keeps the tradition of Irish music alive through the fiddle and the harp. Every week, Kathy and her husband Dennis Gormley host the South Jersey Irish Session, where friends gather to play traditional Irish tunes. Kathy and Dennis also perform together as McDermott’s Handy, named after Kathy’s mentor, the traditional Irish fiddler Ed McDermott. Kathy teaches Irish music, including at the Commodore John Barry Irish Center in Philadelphia. She is considered one of America’s foremost Irish harpers, and for many years, she ran the Somerset Folk Harp Festival, which brings together harpers from all over the world. In 2024, Kathy DeAngelo received a New Jersey Heritage Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for her contribution to Irish harp music.
Produced by Susan Wallner for State of the Arts. Director of Photography Joe Conlon, Assistant Camera Jack Stawowczyk. Narrated by Dan Gordon.
